Tomorrow
by MercedesBlakeney
Summary: Sometimes love just isn't enough. Lily tells Severus that they can't keep seeing each other. A depiction of the last night they would spend together. Oneshot. Severus/Lily.


**This is my first Severus/Lily story, inspired by the song "Tomorrow" by Chris Young. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. It's got JK Rowling stamped all over it in big letters. I'm just borrowing her characters for a little while :) Enjoy!**

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><p>Severus held Lily close and inhaled deeply, taking in her scent of lavender and roses. She was curled up into his chest, his strong arms wrapped around her as they laid in his bed. They relished in the feeling of just being close, capturing the moment in their minds forever. He listened to her soft breathing while she listened to the steady drum of his heartbeat.<p>

"Sev?" she whispered, breaking the silence that had been upon them almost the whole night.

"Hmm?"

She smiled softly to herself at the way his chest lightly vibrated from the sound.

"What are you thinking about?" she asked. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

"You. Me. Us," he replied after a short silence. He had never been a man of many words, but right now that didn't matter.

"Me, too," she said quietly, the smile on her face now gone. A heavy silence descended on the lovers.

Lily ran her hand over his chest, her fingers combing through the short, ebony hair. Severus reached for her hand and snaked his fingers through hers. Even as he did this, he could feel the cold metal of her wedding ring come in contact with his skin. The cool sensation on his skin had the same affect on his heart.

"We can't keep doing this," she finally said, barely above a whisper. She said it firmly and with confidence, but he knew better.

In this moment, her Gryffindor courage had failed her.

He knew it had been coming, he knew she had thought it through, and he knew there was no other choice.

But that didn't make it hurt any less. Her words had cut him like a knife to the heart.

Severus had loved Lily since he had first laid eyes on her, and he would be damned if he was going to lose her without a fight.

He closed his eyes and tightened his grip around her. His chest constricted painfully when he felt her stiffen against his hold.

"Don't say that," he croaked. "We can make this work."

But Lily was firm in her decision and softly shook her head.

"No, Severus, we can't," she stated sadly. Slowly, she untangled her fingers from his and moved out of his grasp to the edge of the bed. Not once did she look at him, because she felt certain that if she did, she would lose all of her resolve.

"Lily, please," he started, his voice quietly begging. "Don't do this."

She was a strong woman. She could take a lot, but the sound of her best friend and lover begging her not to leave was more than she could handle. She began to cry, bowing her head into her arms and resting them against her knees.

For so long she'd planned this out and thought it through. Foolishly, she had thought she was ready, but as she felt her heart break in two, she knew she had been wrong. This hurt far more than any physical pain she would ever experience, and her pain only intensified when she realized Severus was feeling the same way.

Severus reached a hand out to her shaking shoulder but pulled it back after a second thought. He realized this was something she had to do. As much as he wanted to protest and beg and cry for her to stay, he bit his tongue and stayed silent.

He wouldn't, he_ couldn't_, make this any harder than necessary on either of them. So instead he sat on the edge of the other side of the bed and listened to her cry. After he felt as if he couldn't bear to hear her sobs anymore, he broke the silence.

"Why?"

It was a simple question, but he just had to know the answer. What he had really meant was, "Why now?"

They had been seeing each other since Fourth Year and certainly before she had become "Lily Potter". Severus had told her that he wouldn't ask her to marry him. Not while he was in the Dark Lord's services, because marriage could prove to be fatal for her. He would not risk her life at the expense of his own happiness. So when James had proposed to her, Severus urged her to accept, if only for her own protection should something ever happen to him.

So in a sense she had become James', but she would always be Severus'.

In that knowledge, Severus felt entitled to know why she was calling it quits with him after everything they'd been through.

Had James found out and demanded for her to stop seeing them? Was it because he was a Death Eater? Was she moving on from him?

"Why?" he repeated softly.

He heard her take several shuddering breaths before calming down. But when her heavy sobs had died down, silence took their place. He crawled over to her side of the bed and situated himself next to her. She took a deep breath.

"I- I'm…"

He reached for her hand and gave it an encouraging squeeze.

"I'm pregnant."

He turned to face her and what he saw made his already broken heart shatter into a million tiny pieces.

Fear; she was afraid of his reaction. Agony; at having to tell him. Pain; from the throbbing of her broken heart. Love; not only for him, but for the little life she had within her.

He swallowed the lump that had risen in his throat.

"Is it-?" he couldn't finish his question, but Lily already had the answer.

"Yes. It's James'."

When she had found out she was pregnant with James' baby, she immediately knew what she had to do. Even though it would cause them both tremendous pain, she would not make Severus watch the woman he loved raise another man's child.

She wasn't doing this for herself. She was doing it for Severus and her baby.

Severus let go of her hand and ran his fingers through his greasy locks. He felt as if the anguish in his soul would bring him to his death. Oh, if only he would be that lucky…

"I'm sorry, Sev. I'm so, so sorry!" Lily simpered, throwing herself in her knees in front of him.

He looked away.

"I'm sorry."

Still he did not meet her gaze.

"Severus, please look at me," she said as she cupped his face in her hands.

He turned his gaze toward her and she gazed deeply into his onyx eyes. She was used to seeing love and passion, sometimes anger, burning in the portals to his souls, but never this.

Defeat. Hopelessness. Despair.

It scared her more than Voldemort did. Severus Snape she knew did not simply surrender or give up.

Ever.

"Congratulations," he mumbled. It was sincere, but she still caught the undertone of sadness. A single teardrop escaped from the corner of his eye. Lily watched it slowly run down his cheek and drip off his chin until it landed on her hand.

She began to sob all the louder and slammed her tiny fists into his chest.

How could he be so calm about this? Why wasn't he yelling? Why wasn't he mad?

"No!" she screamed, "Stop it! That's not what you're supposed to say!"

"What do you want me to say, Lily?" he asked, completely devoid of emotion.

"I don't know!" she sighed with exasperation as she threw her hands in the air. "Anything! Just don't sit there and say nothing! Tell me that you're mad at me, that you never want to see me again, that you hate this child. That you hate me…" her voice trailed off.

She couldn't bring herself to meet his eyes. She didn't want to see him say it. Hearing it would be bad enough.

But Severus would have none of that. With a long, boney finger, he gently tipped her chin up towards his face.

"Look at me," he commanded softly. She did so.

"Do you not understand? I am not mad at you, nor do I never wish to see you again. I do not hate your child, and I certainly do not hate you. I could never hate you."

"But-" He cut her off.

"Don't you see, Lily?" he asked, his eyes blazing with passion as they searched hers for any sign of understanding. "I love you."

The words came crashing down on her like a ton of bricks. She had always known he loved her by his actions, but he had never before expressed it in words. Her vision went blurry and it was hard for her to breathe. The wind had literally been knocked out of her,

He'd said it. He'd finally said it. The three little words she had been longing to hear for years. It was his love for her that prevented him from ever being able to forget about her, his love for her prevented him from ever hating her. It stopped him from hating even her child, whose father he hated. It was all because he loved her.

He had finally told her, but it didn't matter.

Sometimes love just isn't enough.

She was leaving for good, she was saying goodbye. Even his long awaited declaration of love couldn't stop her from leaving and they both knew it.

Anxiety settled like a cold fog over their hearts. There was no need for words now. All they needed was the temporary solace they could find only in the other's embrace. They would spend this night for all it was worth. Severus laid back on the bed and pulled Lily into his strong embrace. He stroked her hair gently as she held onto him as if her very existence depended on it.

They knew that it wouldn't last forever. In the morning she would forever leave his bed and arms only to go into another's, and he would just watch her leave without a single word.

But tonight was all that mattered. She was still his and he was still hers. There was no one and nothing else. Just the two of them. He would love her as if she would always be his, and she would accept his love as if his was the only love she would ever be offered. And while they both knew none of it was true, it was good enough for tonight.

Tonight was about making memories, because tomorrow that's all they would have.

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><p><strong>I'd really appreciate knowing what you thought of my story. Please leave me a review, even a short one :)<strong>


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